1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shaving razor, and more particularly to a shaving razor having a blade replacement cartridge in its handle.
2. The Related Art
Most current razors utilize a replacement blade unit comprising a compact plastic housing integrally carrying one or more blades. Some of these blade units are a type in which blade housing is pivotably mounted to the razor head by spring loaded pincers. Other blade units are fixed when in use and the blade housing is either laterally slidable into position or is snapped into place and held there by a spring loaded detent mechanism. Both styles of blade unit are typically marketed to the consumer in a plastic package having recesses into which the blade units are pressed. This shields the blade edges from damage and also prevents the consumer from being cut.
A consumer will often forget to bring along a package of replacement blades on a trip; or it will be inconvenient to find room to pack them. In these and other circumstances they never seem to be on hand when they are needed.
Various razors have been developed in the prior art to make replacement blades more conveniently available by storing them in the razor handle. However, most of these are old style razors in which a pack of thin blades are stored, each of which has to be individually handled and slipped onto the razor head. Some are compactly stored in a dispenser device, but these only operate with a special style of razor, and the dispenser is not reusable. None allow the user to mount a replacement blade unit to the razor head in the same manner as he would extract the blade unit from the plastic storage device in which it was marketed, that is, without any need for handling the blade unit with his fingers.
Stacked blades which must be individually handled or manipulated to remove them from the razor handle for mounting to the razor head are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,791,550, issued Feb. 10, 1931 to M. D. Behrman; 2,281,166, issued Apr. 28, 1942 to R. De S. Nava; and 4,182,031, issued Jan. 8, 1980 to Cecil, Jr. Although U.S. Pat. No. 1,756,439, issued Apr. 29, 1930 to J. Schick discloses a razor in which spare blades are carried within a dispenser that is received within the razor handle, the structure is only suited for a special design of razor and is particularly not adapted to operate with the type of blade units which are most popular today.